Ringo Lam did an excellent job for the most part especially in the action scenes, but what this movie lacks is character depth and a strong musical score to emphasize the seriousness of certain scenes, broaden the graphic detail of sheer violence, and elaborate on the demented nature of Judge (played by Simon Yam). Perhaps this was due to budget restraints, however this in part makes this movie fall short of being in the same level of classics like HARD BOILED, THE KILLER, BULLET IN THE HEAD, and SHIRI. Overall a very good movie, worthy of a rental.